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Wednesday, 7 May 2008

A "Lesson" To Voters

I don't usually stray into rabid sites like the NST, but since I was looking for more info on RPK (mistakenly thinking MSM might have more than I did), I decided to make an exception this time.

But I did stumble upon a priceless jewel. I don't know how this fool has the temerity to say this with a straight face. I'd have doubled over and cracked up.

You'd think that with the dumb stunts he's pulled of late, he'd be trying to lay low and hope no one has any memory of him.

But no.

Read the entire article:

Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the failure of Selangor would be an "eye-opener and a lesson" to voters.

He said the Federal government had long predicted that opposition parties would have difficulty fulfilling their promises made in the general election.

Najib was referring to Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's announcement on Monday that the state government was not in a position to reduce quit rent by 20 per cent as promised in the Parti Keadilan Rakyat election manifesto.

The state government will, instead, be giving incentives so that people settle their arrears.

Khalid had also said that a study was being carried out to determine whether it would be apt to reduce the quit rent since the state's economy was not growing at the desired rate, land prices were high and housing projects were ongoing.

Najib said people were often taken in by promises of lower taxes.

"During the elections, anyone can make promises," he said, adding that he hoped that people would realise that what was important was not the promises but how likely they were to be kept.

"We must have the maturity and the wisdom to decide for ourselves."

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin also criticised the Selangor government for making promises it could not keep.

He said this was the obvious difference between the Pakatan Rakyat, which took a populist approach to gain popular support, and the ruling Barisan Nasional, which had experience in government and only made responsible promises.

Khaled was speaking after officiating the opening of the International Conference On Educational Innovation, jointly organised by Universiti Malaya and the Malaysian National Commission for Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in Kuala Lumpur.

"If they bring down the rates, how can they ensure that quality standards within the jurisdiction of the various local authorities are maintained?" Khaled asked, adding that the opposition's promise of free education for all was unrealistic.

"If funds are channelled towards financing free education, and not enough is allocated to develop the economy, graduates won't be able to get jobs."

It claims to be America's Finest News Source (probably is, too) and revolves around the most bizarre of satire. It's often irreverent, sometimes provocative and occasionally profane.

Now I keep getting the feeling that aliens have abducted the original editors of our mainstream media and replaced them with foam-in-the-mouth satirists which could make Onionists pale in comparison.

Because there's no way in hell that NORMAL Malaysians could take the NST seriously.

Najib must be in serious denial about the situation of Barisan Nasional.

As for the Opposition, I did glance through their manifesto briefly. But I don't really care about free education. Nor am I seriously worried about the amount of tax I pay since Malaysia ranks rather low when it comes to taxation.

But I care about what my children are being taught. I don't want the likes of the keris-wielder involved in my child's education. And I'd like my tax money to be spent wisely.

For instance, I'm not too fond of C4 explosives being authorised to eliminate random Mongolian models. C4 explosives are not cheap.

He said this was the obvious difference between the Pakatan Rakyat, which took a populist approach to gain popular support, and the ruling Barisan Nasional, which had experience in government and only made responsible promises.

I'm sick of being lied to by the ruling coalition that the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy is going to fund the improvement of road transportation.

Or that we're forced to pay higher toll prices for better road maintenance.

Or that the price of cooking oil, sugar, flour and now rice have gone up significantly but we should tighten our budget and adjust our lifestyle.

Or that we should adapt to rock bottom minimum wages.

Those are cheap words and empty promises. We have too much maturity and wisdom to put up with it.

1 comment:

received this email - not sure how true the facts are but if they are - there goes the subsidy and we are told to adjust our lifestyle.

hhhmmmmm How wonderful......

*************Dear Malaysians

Strange But True!Please read on to find out the real situation in our beloved country - Malaysia! It can only happen in Malaysia!

Much as we like to encourage appreciation of Western Music in Malaysiawhy is it that Petronas sees it fit to finance the 'MalaysianPhilharmonic Orchestra' which is a misnomer because 95% of its 105musicians are foreign and mainly European.Each musician is paid between RM16,000- RM28,000 per month. They are given 2 months paid holiday and working conditions which are second to none in the world. They have not one but 3 European conductors.The Chief Conductor is paid RM130,000 per month and the AssociateConductor gets paid RM50,000 per month.The total monthly budget for this orchestra is RM 3.5 Million.The Malaysian Conductor Ooi Chean See resigned because it was widelyknown she was being undermined and not allowed to develop in her career.

During her time with the orchestra, her concert scehdule decreasedgradually to the point she was doing only a couple 'Children'sConcerts' per year.The orchestra has been in existence for 10 years now and the totalamount spent on this orchestra has been a staggering RM500 Million.Yes! Petronas does NOT have money for bridges for Malaysians but ithas money to splash on foreign musiciansPetronas does NOT appear to have real desire to train or giveopportunity to locals Musicians.They promised to set up an Academy of Music to train local musicianswith the tutors drawn from the orchestra but this sadly has notmaterialised.Since its inception, the Malaysian Philharmonic orchestra has notincreased its Malaysian participation which still stands at a shameful 4%. They have cosmetic programs like 'outreach' to supposedly encourage the love of western classical music to local Malaysians but these are essentially self serving publicity stunts.Even the newly formed 'Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra' is apublicity stunt with no serious commitment to develop Malaysiantalent. It is poorly organised and its musicians meet about twice ayear only!The previous founding CEO of the orchestra Mr Hamid Abu Bakar wasclueless about music and left the artistic decisions to IMG, aninternational music agency who have successfully milked Petronas for tens of millions of dollars.

The current CEO Juniwati Hussin is a chemist by training and is aslight improvement because she does actually attend the concerts and is not averse to learning to appreciate western classical music. But the overall artisitc planning and direction in controlled by the Europeans who have a vested interest tellingPetronas that there is no talent in Malaysia and the ignorantmanagement of Petronas are happy to maintain the status quo. It would appear that they prefer foreign participation in this 'Malaysian Orchestra' then to have Malaysians.What a pathetic mindset!I hope issues like this will be brought up in parliament. Why can'tPetronas train local musicians, provide scholarships for locals tostudy abroad if need be, and then employ them in the orchestra.In a matter of a few years we can have an orchestra consisting ofMalaysians true to the name Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and good enough to rival the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.There is an abundance of talent in Malaysia. The sad fact is,Malaysian talent is usually recognised overseas. .Why? Why? Why?*****************